Got Falstaff?
The article in the June issue of Memphis magazine on Sun vs Stax [Point/Counterpoint] brought back many fond memories to me about the early days of Sun Records. In the late 1950s, I sang as tenor in the Collegiates, a band that also included R. Dickey Lee, Allen Reynolds, David Glenn, Eddie Weill, and J.L. Jerden. The Sun record we made (Sun 297) was the group's rendition of "Dreamy Nights" and "Fool, Fool, Fool." I still have one of these 45 rpm Sun records. This record was a fairly popular hit in the Memphis area. Dickey Lee would thereafter come-out with a pop hit at Nashville: "Patches." He and Allen Reynolds moved to Nashville and had great success. Allen Reynolds became one of the most successful producers and songwriters anywhere, writing big hit songs for such popular performers as Crystal Gayle and Garth Brooks, and has been inducted into the Nashville Song Writers Hall of Fame.
During the 1950s WHBQ's disk jockey, Dewey Phillips, promoted quite a few careers for local musicians and singers. I will always remember the Collegiates' trips to WHBQ's radio station to visit with Dewey Phillips during his broadcasts. His advertisement and promotion of Falstaff beer was legend:
"If you can't drink it, you can freeze it and eat it, and if you can't eat it, you can open up a rib and pour it in"
- Sam F. Cole Jr.
Memphis, TN
